


Thalassic

by corgs



Series: veil [1]
Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, I’m probably forgetting a million other tags, M/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2019-01-07 08:40:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12229419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corgs/pseuds/corgs
Summary: They met between words scribed on vanilla pages, under bright stars that held their secrets, with the subtle aroma of roses against their skin. (Taekwoon was an assassin, ready to live the rest of his days in peace. Hakyeon was a patriot, ready to die by his sword.)





	Thalassic

**Author's Note:**

> Back at it again because I don't know when or how to stop. 
> 
> This is basically inspired by every fantasy book and video game (99% Final Fantasy) I've come across over the years. It's different from what I'm used to writing and updates will probably be really sporadic since this is more of a guilty pleasures piece than anything if I'm being honest. 
> 
> tl;dr: 11 months later The Closer still has me shook and btw I'm a fantasy genre nerd :>

It was once said dragons were the origin of all power.

“Taekwoon.”

Taekwoon pushed himself off the tree trunk he was leaning against, fixing his hood to make sure it was in place, and nodded at Sanghyuk and Hongbin with an unspoken message. Untrodden grass bent under his weight as he swung around the tree, facing a dirt road and lone navy blue carriage instead of the sturdy pillars of the forest he was hiding amongst.   

The wheels of the carriage came to a halt with muffled screams, the oil lamp branching off the carriage swinging precariously, two large blue pennants adorned with a single white dragon silhouette on each continued to flap against the wind. Taekwoon stalked toward the carriage, two guards surfacing from within the carriage to inspect what was wrong. Sanghyuk and Hongbin made quick work of them in the same fashion as the driver, letting them drop with a clatter of flesh and metal armor.

The advisor was the last to appear when the guards didn’t respond to his commands, tentatively peeking out of the carriage for them and paling when he caught sight of his dead guards. Power surged through Taekwoon’s veins like a sweet summer song and he pulled the middle-aged man out by the collar.  

Taekwoon went deaf to the man’s demands that quickly devolved into deranged pleading, gripping the man’s head between two gloved hands. A simple twist was all it took to silence the man. The oil lamp was still struggling to stabilize by the time they finished, the glow of light oscillating over the dark path.  

“I would’ve thought the personal guard of the old families would put up more of a challenge,” Sanghyuk noted as he came up to flank Taekwoon’s left, sheathing his dagger behind his back. “They didn’t even use their essences.”

“The family most likely didn’t see any reason to send their best guards to accompany an old man on his way to a festival in a neighboring city,” Taekwoon replied, squatting down to loot whatever belongings the advisor had on his person. Even with a cloth covering his nose and mouth, Taekwoon could pick up the copper scent of the blood around him. “You need to stop complaining about these sorts of things.”

“I’m just saying,” Sanghyuk rolled a body over onto its back with his foot. “The Lee family is the strongest of the old families. I was expecting more.”

Hongbin leaned against the carriage, pulling off his face cloth to take a deep breath of air with closed eyes. “As long as the target is dead, it doesn’t matter.”

Taekwoon came away from the advisor with a handful of jewelry and a coin pouch that he pocketed as he stood up. He looked over at Sanghyuk whose black eyes were the only part of his face not wrapped in a thin black scarf, “Don’t be a brat about it.”

Sanghyuk didn’t respond, instead his eyes flashed blue in annoyance before he turned away. Hongbin shrugged at him as if to signify that Taekwoon was on his own.

“Just focus on the list,” said Taekwoon, the warm energy that had been coursing through his body slowly evaporating. “Everything else is second.”

—

Taekwoon supposed he lived a quiet, uneventful life.

“How’s business today?” Taekwoon tapped Hongbin’s back, the first thing he saw when he came down the stairs from their small one floor home. It was around mid-morning and out of all three of them, Hongbin was the early riser. He had always been the first one up, even prior to officially taking on a day profession.

Sunlight poured in through ceiling-to-floor windows at the front, illuminating everything from the chipped white paint to the colorful petals of living and dying flowers. The air of the shop felt old, as if it had always been a flower shop that was generations old. The walls offered a warm comfort, though Taekwoon wasn’t sure if that was just the effect the flowers had on the old building.

“Busy,” Hongbin snapped his scissors shut around the stem of a navy blue rose, shortening it enough to match a pile of other similarly colored roses lined up side by side on the front counter. “A few Azure girls came in asking for flower crowns. Half of them asked me to accompany them to the celebration tonight.”

“You’re just universally attractive,” Taekwoon gave Hongbin a small joking smile, picking up a trimmed rose to give it a curious sniff. The whole shop constantly smelt of nature and the rose was only a saturated version of what Taekwoon breathed in every day. While it was a faint scent in their home, the scent grew stronger with every step down the stairs that led to the shop.

Hongbin responded with a grimace, as if he had just eaten the sourest of candies when he was expecting sweetness to spread over his tastebuds, “I’d rather not be. Besides, they only do it to anger their parents.”

Taekwoon placed the rose back, dragging his fingers slowly over the counter as he walked around it so that he was now facing Hongbin, “Have you heard anything concerning the Lee family and their advisor?”

Hongbin gathered up the dozen or so roses, placing what Taekwoon recognized to be baby’s breaths throughout the bundle before he began to bind the stems together with a thick ribbon of white lace. Taekwoon watched Hongbin’s practiced fingers, an illusionary delicacy bringing the lace around and around. He wasn’t sure where Hongbin had picked up the art of flower arranging, only knowing that Hongbin had the skill for as long as he knew him.

“Bandits who were only interested in the loot,” Hongbin divulged, wrapping the bundle of flowers in brown paper in a way so that the flowers were fully showcased. “The Lees don’t have the time to look any deeper with the return of their prodigal son and the grand homecoming he demands.”

Taekwoon couldn’t forget, even if he wanted. They lived in the capital, broken up into six districts for each of the old families to control. The district Taekwoon currently resided in was home to the Lee family and so it only made sense for the air to be bursting with a jovial spirit that the locals were feeding.

“It was only a few days ago.” Although they didn’t leave any evidence that would point the finger away from bandits, one could never be too careful. The old families were considered the strongest for a reason, and it wasn’t solely due to brute strength. Taekwoon didn’t make a habit of tiptoeing anywhere near the old families– this would be the only exception.

Hongbin gave him a distracted hum, tying a dark blue ribbon around the brown paper. It didn’t seem like he had paid any attention to what Taekwoon had just said, “The next few days would be a good time to take more of them out.”

It would be– most would be drunk and vulnerable, stumbling home after a late night of raising their glasses and twirling around in ruffled dresses or suits. The sooner the list was done, the sooner they would be paid and Taekwoon would be released from another anchor. However, condensed killings would surely draw the public’s, and the old families’, attention. It would be difficult to work under scrutiny.

“Possibly,” Taekwoon replied. Hongbin placed the completed bouquet on the counter and wordlessly locked eyes with Taekwoon, eyebrows pushed together and lips pressed into a flat line. Hongbin’s lips parted, only to fall shut a second later. Instead of speaking his mind, he pushed the bouquet across the counter.

Hongbin’s gaze fell toward the arranged flowers, “Could you sell some of these in the square for me?”

Taekwoon didn’t press Hongbin, bringing the bouquet up into his arm to cradle, “Of course.”

He already knew what Hongbin wanted to say.

—

“So unsightly. How am I supposed to enjoy the beauty of the fountain if that Noir is sitting there?”

Taekwoon ignored the Azure woman who wasn’t making her distaste a secret and most likely didn’t care for the fountain. It was something one got used to if one was a Noir, a human with eyes as dark as the dirt they were treated like.  

Taekwoon breathed a sigh, silently wishing somebody would buy the last two bouquets from him so he could leave. The task was nothing new to Taekwoon, who offered Hongbin his help regularly. Despite all of them being used to it, Taekwoon didn’t want Hongbin to deal with the staggering number of disembodied remarks and insults that came with being in a populated area.

The square was a large area, large enough to hold thousands of people on its perfectly cemented cobblestone. It was a busy area due to it being a crossroad of many main streets as well as being home to boutiques, eateries, and other sorts of services. It made for an excellent spot for all sorts of businesses. Today was busier than most days.

He had been outside for close to an hour, if his dented silver pocket watch was anything to go by. Taekwoon kept his gaze on the legs and shoes passing by him, never bothering to look up to see who they belonged to. He only peered up when a pair of shoes stopped in front of him, toes pointed toward him, and he’d tell them the price of a bouquet. Money and goods would be exchanged and Taekwoon would go back to watching.

Another few minutes pass and a pair of dress shoes with a nondescript height in the heel stopped in front of Taekwoon. A man.

Taekwoon lifted his head, eyes caught on a tan hand resting on the hilt of a sword, a red tassel hanging from its end. He held his breath for a second before he made the conscious effort of letting go, moving past the sword to examine the man who stood before him.  

Overall, the man– an Azure– was dressed relatively well, yet casual, giving nothing away about himself. A starched white button shirt tucked into a pair of slacks, his sword hanging from a hip harness. The weapon was the only indication of the man’s status– a military officer.  

“Hello there,” the man smiled pleasantly and Taekwoon saw a serene ocean in his eyes, heard a soothing melody in his voice, “how much for one?”

Taekwoon’s brain lagged, struggling to process the tone to the eyes. Azures didn’t show kindness to Noirs, didn’t regard them as equals.  

“Twenty-five silver,” Taekwoon replied after an awkward stutter of silence.

The man pulled out a coin purse from his pocket, bouncing it in his palm as he searched its contents, saying to himself, “Oh, I only have gold…”

“I…” Taekwoon started off slowly in order to grab the man’s attention, making sure to look for any signs of hostility surfacing before continuing, “can make change, if you’d like.” It was something he had inadvertently learned growing up, practically a survival instinct that was ingrained into his bones.  

The man blinked at him owlishly, then said, “I’ll take two, please.”

“Fifty silver then.”

Taekwoon handed the bouquets off to the man, taking a single warm gold coin in return. He dug into a coin pouch where he had been keeping his collected money to pull out the appropriate change until navy blue roses were being presented to him. Taekwoon stared at them cross-eyed, the floral scent hitting him head on, then glanced up at the man with a question he knew better than to voice.

“For you,” the man stated as if it was completely obvious, tilting his head in a manner that could only be described as coyish. Part of Taekwoon believed it to be some sort of facade that would drop the moment Taekwoon accepted the bouquet. But what place did Taekwoon have to refuse in the presence of so many people?

“Uh…” after looking between the flowers that were still pointed at him and the man, Taekwoon took the flowers with hesitant hands. “Thank you…”

“You can keep the change. Buy yourself a cake with it now that you’ve sold all your goods,” the man moved to cradle the bouquet in the arm that was previously propped up on his sword, the navy blue petals contrasting against the man’s white shirt. “You’ve been sitting out here for an awfully long time. I recommend the shop over there, by the way.” With a grin, he pointed his finger over Taekwoon’s left shoulder and Taekwoon followed to see a line of people trailing out of a small establishment– a bakery, he assumed.

Taekwoon turned back around and watched the man walk off with confusion and suspicion, waiting for some sort of punch line to come. However, the man disappeared into the crowd without a flourish and Taekwoon was left with a bundle of flowers.

—

“It was obviously an Azure who had too much time on his hands,” Sanghyuk muttered, glaring down at the empty side road the flat rooftop they were waiting on was overlooking. Taekwoon wasn’t sure what kind of response he was expecting from Sanghyuk beside the contemptuous sort.

Ordinarily, Taekwoon wouldn’t think too heavily on these sorts of happenings, except being on the receiving end of an Azure’s pure hearted kindness was unusual. Hongbin, who tagged out tonight citing fatigue, hadn’t voiced much of an opinion when Taekwoon returned with the flowers, telling Taekwoon to keep them for himself after hearing what had happened.

Taekwoon pressed his head back against the raised stone edge of the roof, watching a sparse number of clouds float across the night sky, the moon blindingly bright. Sanghyuk could be right and even Taekwoon could come up with his own list of reasons why it was a bad idea to continue thinking about this Azure, but Taekwoon’s self preservation was never the best when it wasn’t crucial.

Granted, it wasn’t as if Taekwoon would be staying in the capital for much longer, so honestly, where was the harm?

“Oh,” Sanghyuk pulled a cloth up to obscure the lower portion of his face, telling Taekwoon before he stood up, “there’s our guy.”

Sanghyuk leapt over the edge, dagger drawn, and Taekwoon followed afterward making sure his face was mostly covered, willing a flow of soothing energy into his legs as he free-fell three stories. He landed without a stumble, charging immediately toward the lone person on the road, swinging a kick to at their target’s head to follow up Sanghyuk’s dodged slash.

His foot connected with the side of the ministry officer’s head, causing him to tumble and roll onto his side. The man shook his head and immediately got back up, an eye squinted in pain as he examined Taekwoon and Sanghyuk. He didn’t look that much older than Taekwoon, dressed well like he had been at a gathering of socialites, cheek reddening where Taekwoon had struck him.

“Who sent you?” the man gritted out as if he was expecting this to happen, backing away from them slowly, blue eyes blazing.

A sign of untold magic.

Taekwoon looked over at Sanghyuk, who nodded at him, and then Taekwoon made a dash for the man. His right leg came up first, to which the man attempted to shield his head with his arms. From the corner of his eye he could see what seemed to be thorned vines emerging from the ground, curling up like a snake ready to strike. Taekwoon didn’t pay them any mind.

The man’s eyes danced as he tried to keep track of where Taekwoon’s foot was coming from, striking and retracting much too fast for the man to attempt to establish a plan of counterattack. Every hit the man took visibly wore him out and the man wobbled backwards. With a short running start, Taekwoon planted the flat of his foot between the man’s rib cage with a jump, pushing off the same foot to twist his body around to bring his other leg around and make contact with the man’s head in midair.

The man was sent flying down onto cobblestone once more, landing on his left side with his back to Taekwoon. Without preamble Taekwoon approached, precise breezes of wind whistling behind him, and used his heel to turn the man over.  

It was partially because not many people were versed in close combat, preferring steel weapons over physical attacks, that Taekwoon typically had the advantage once he got too close for a weapon to be used properly. The other reason, though…

In the ministry officer’s right hand came a flash, moonlight caught on the steel and illuminating it as it made a silver arch.

Taekwoon paused, a tingle of pain shooting up from his leg. It felt as if somebody had poked him hard with a sharp pencil. He looked down at the small knife protruding out of his calf, then at the man before pulling it out nonchalantly. The wound would heal within the hour.

“Y–Your eyes– how…?” the man stammered, backing up slowly, blood running from his lips and eyes shaking with fear. “They are both blue and black– why do you have the powers of the Azure?”

Taekwoon didn’t enlighten the man.

—

Their home was small– Hongbin and Sanghyuk shared the sole bedroom while Taekwoon turned a storage room into a place he could sleep. The matter of space wasn’t an issue as he didn’t own much, but he couldn’t do without a window, even if the only view he would have was of a brick wall.

When Taekwoon came out of his bedroom and into the common space the next morning, there was something different. On a side table, there was a clear glass vase full of flowers– they were vividly red, bulbs of color that were each comprised of small flowers. He remembered seeing them when he got home last night, but the small cream colored card propped up at the base of the vase was a new detail. It was hardly Taekwoon’s business, but he opened it up to a short message.

_When you look at these, think of me._

Taekwoon flipped the card over for any sign of a signature, but there was none.

It must’ve been Hongbin’s, that much Taekwoon could surmise. Taekwoon replaced the card and went to wash up, couldn’t help the short pang of what felt like betrayal from ringing. If Hongbin was seeing someone and didn’t want to let them know, that was fine. They weren’t each other’s keepers.  

Yet, he’d have hoped Hongbin would tell him if he had this sort of person in his life. Taekwoon thought back to the roses that were starting to wilt in his room and of the Azure who had given them to him until he shook his head free of the man. That was hardly the same and Taekwoon hadn’t kept it from Hongbin (not that there was anything to keep).

Taekwoon made his way downstairs into the shop once he was dressed, checking on Sanghyuk to see if he was awake before he did so (he was sprawled out on his bed face down, clothes strewn along the foot of his bed).

During days when the weather was warmer, Hongbin preferred setting up stands filled with different types of flowers in front of the shop. A pane of glass separated Hongbin’s back and the outside world from Taekwoon, who emerged into the back of the shop which was blanketed in an air of stillness.

Taekwoon thought that out of all three of them, he wanted Hongbin to leave the life of an assassin behind the most.  

He left the shop through the back door without greeting Hongbin, coming out into an alleyway and made his way through the narrow paths until he reached one of the main streets that ran through the district. While the street wasn’t terribly populated, it would only be a matter of time before Azures started pouring out of their homes for brunch after another night of celebrations and the party the young Lee himself was throwing for the upper throngs of Azure society.  

The day was still young though so the walk between the shop and the library was a swift one. Taekwoon kept to the street side of the sidewalk, only needing to avoid a handful of people who expected him to make way for them. He didn’t have much planned for the day, only wishing to finish a book he didn’t have the time to finish.   

The public library was a three-tiered building– incredibly large in not only height, but depth, given that it was a library located in the capital. Shelves were three times as tall as Taekwoon, completely filled with different sorts of literature, from fiction to books that detailed the supposed grandiose of the nation’s history.  

In the center of the library was the main reading area, the sides bolstered by shelves with aisles in between that led to even more shelves. Across the ceiling was a painted depiction of The Ascension, the event that lead to the birth of Azures. There were a multitude of theories concerning what had happened several millennia ago, the most mythical of which involved dragons and was the subject of all the ceiling paintings in the capital’s libraries. The tale started at the entrance of the building with seven gloriously detailed dragons– blue-eyed and each a different color.

Taekwoon ignored the awe inspiring painting, hiking up to the third floor on a marble staircase to the fiction section. Nobody was allowed to take books out of the building, Azure and Noir alike, which Taekwoon found inconvenient at the worst of times. Due to the rule and the burning ache the stairs tended to leave in his legs, Taekwoon spent long hours at the library to complete a book every so often.

The book Taekwoon sought wasn’t located very far from the center of the library, but Taekwoon still struck a match and lit a lamp to bring with him.

“Oh, the flower merchant! What a surprise!”

He had been on his knees, scouring a row of books for his book ( _The Sword and Maiden_ , as cheesey as it sounded) when Taekwoon belatedly noticed someone was standing next to him. Taekwoon’s hand froze right on the spine of the book he was looking for, unused to being crept up on like this without noticing. It was as if the person was an assassin and Taekwoon the one to die.

The irony of it wasn’t lost on him.

Taekwoon looked up, meeting the face of the man from the square, the one with the sword who essentially gifted him flowers and told him to eat dainty cakes as if Taekwoon was a child. The Azure was dressed similarly to what he had worn that day, although instead of a white dress shirt, it was periwinkle. He still wore his sword at his hip and was holding a book, posture filled with grace.

“Yes…” Taekwoon confirmed, guarded. No matter how much he had previously wanted to encounter the man again, the Azure was still a stranger, his motives unclear.

“What’s your name? I can’t keep on referring to you as the flower merchant in my head,” the man inquired when it instead sounded like a demand for information.

Taekwoon studied the Azure, blue eyes pronounced even in the dim lighting. He had no relation to this Azure outside of their brief interaction as merchant and customer. “Why must you know my name?”

The Azure blinked, wide-eyed for a split second. Taekwoon wasn’t sure if it was a blessing or a curse that they were alone. While the Azure could do whatever he wished, Taekwoon could openly retaliate if it came down to it.   

“Oh,” the Azure smiled so beautifully apologetic, causing a chill to run through Taekwoon’s limbs, “I suppose that must’ve been rude of me to ask so suddenly.” It was disconcerting and yet Taekwoon wanted to see more, hear more of the voice he previously didn’t have the mind to focus on.

“My name’s Hakyeon. I just wanted to tell you my friend enjoyed the flowers. Do you own a shop, by chance?”

Taekwoon watched the man– Hakyeon– carefully, eyes flickering down to the sword before looking back up into those expectant blue eyes. The man ought to be something other than a soldier charging on the battlefield, spilling blood on contested soil.  

“I’m not the owner,” Taekwoon replied, plucking his book off the shelf and standing back up. The Azure was slightly shorter than Taekwoon, yet there was an imaginary height that made Taekwoon feel smaller than he actually was, “I’m glad your friend liked the bouquet– I’ll let the owner know.”

Hakyeon hummed, stepping forward coincidentally when Taekwoon took a step back. Taekwoon frowned while Hakyeon grinned at him in amusement, almost as if he was playing a small game in his head and Taekwoon had done as he predicted, “It’s refreshing to see someone close to my age enjoying books– I’ve been told too many times how fictional books are meant for children.”

“Do you want something from me?” There was nothing particularly special or interesting about him so for what reason, then, did Hakyeon approach him? He was just a Noir merchant when they encountered each other, someone of little importance to someone like Hakyeon.

With an amused breath, Hakyeon pulled away, “I wanted to let you know the flowers were beautifully arranged, but I also wished to put a name to a face. It doesn’t seem like I’ll be getting that out of you this time though, flower boy.” It had been said as though Hakyeon was going to make a game out of getting Taekwoon to divulge his name. Taekwoon’s fingers tightened around the book– _this time_?

“Don’t call me that,” Taekwoon narrowed his eyes at Hakyeon, hardly a glare but the intent was there.

Hakyeon smirked playfully, “Tell me your name so I don’t have to call you that.”

Taekwoon closed his mouth, his silence holding his answer. Hakyeon chuckled to himself, “I won’t keep you from your book any longer. I hope we meet again soon, flower boy.” He paused, eyes flickering down thoughtfully to the book Taekwoon held, “And by the way...”

Hakyeon pointed at the book Taekwoon was holding much too tightly, “ _The Sword and Maiden_ is a good book. The ending was predictable, but it was an enjoyable read.”

Hours later, with only the soft glow of a candlelight revealing the small space on the floor Taekwoon sat on in the darker part of the library, Taekwoon closed the book with a languid hand. He tapped his fingers along the hardcover, relaxing his back against a shelf as he reflected on the story he had just finished.

The story detailed a man who was an Azure general and an Azure woman he had fallen in love with who turned out to be a spy. In the end, the man deserted his nation in favor of running away with the woman to live a peaceful life together. It was a happy ending, blatantly predictable, and entirely unrealistic.

In the real world, treason would have ended with death.

 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! feedback is always welcome :)  
> my [twitter](https://twitter.com/zeroo_cb) for if you'd like to see me yell or yell at me


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